"An example is in the Otumoetai Kahui Ako (learning cluster) where the early learning services,
kohanga reo, schools and kura have identified their local needs and resources and work with other agencies and providers to plan the support their children need.
Services include an outreach immunisation and diabetes service, sexual and reproductive health, rangatahi services, a
kohanga reo with a role of 60 children, kaumatua services and a nurse-led health clinic.
A new order of education emerged in the 1980s when Nga
Kohanga Reo began as a community initiative.
The metaphor of kohanga, or 'nest', used in this song is well recognised by most New Zealanders in relation to Te
Kohanga Reo, a collective of early childhood centres where te reo Maori is the dominant language.
Education,
kohanga reo and Kaupapa Maori seem crucial in this leading to the Official Language status in 1981.
There is an increasing appreciation of the need for Maori to be empowered within their own culture, and for Maori to take leadership roles in "matters Maori." Educational and family-oriented organisations, such as Puriri Whakamaru, Women's Refuge, Te
Kohanga Reo, Nga Tamatoa, and others, have for some time been at the forefront of revitalising Maori cultural development.
Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi (Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu, Nga Puhi) is a leader in the
Kohanga Reo (Language Nest) movement in Aotearoa (New Zealand).
Early childhood centres (ECCs) include government licensed and regulated facilities for children up to six years of age that include kindergarten, childcare, daycare, creche,
kohanga reo, language nest, playcentre, early learning centre, nursery school, Montessori and Rudolf-Steiner preschools.
Through fundraising and grants, the group travelled to London to be taught by experts Manaia and Te
Kohanga Reo - and they in turn visited Teesside for training sessions.
In addition to the already-established kindergartens, childcare centres and playcentres, playgroups, Montessori preschools, Steiner kindergartens, Maori language total immersion centres (
Kohanga Reo), and more recently various Pacific Island language nests emerged, creating a diverse and complex early childhood sector.
After much discussion, the elders returned to their tribal areas to set up Te
Kohanga Reo, early childhood language nests, to save the language (Durie, 1998; Ka'ai, 2004).